How did you align the B2B technology for marketing and sales in Germany – and a four -year -old category

It was originally published in a different form on Asifikbal.com

Old roots, new branches

When I joined my current company – the global industrial company based in Germany – I entered a preparation that seemed not changed since the 1980s.

Marketing was considered a sales assistant. Their job? Make the brochures. Download photos. Support the real stars – the representative of the vouchers who traveled to the clients, shook hands, and closed deals. Digital marketing, automation, armed incoming? This was a science fiction.

But I had a different vision.

Checking reality

As director of global marketing and sales technology, I have not only inherited a role – I inherited an environmental system that was deeply divided. Marketing and sales were separate islands. There was no mutual language. There are no common tools. No integrated system.

The company’s website had about 2,500 visitors per month, but no one followed them. The only “lead” mechanism was a basic communication model. No analyzes. I am not automated. Just my digital silence.

Point of transformation: Modern marketing begins

My first mission? Convincing the leadership that this is no longer in the eighties of the last century. Marketing is not related to printing bulletins – it relates to data, digital presence and building pipelines.

But we had restrictions. Being part of a larger industrial group, we could not simply fix everything. The group had already adhered to Optimizley (previously Episodever) for CMS.

Instead of fighting the regime, I took a strategic step:

We built a blog for interior and lead engine using Hubspot, while maintaining the company’s location on Episerver.

This gave us:

• Lead models with logic
• Email automation
• Call database
• Google Analytics integration
• CRM Handoff Possibilities

We have also confirmed the merging of Google and LinkedIn ads into the same system.

Results: 2500 → 100,000 visitors and real offers

Within one year, we expanded the monthly traffic range from 2500 to more than 10,000.

More importantly, we stopped “guessing” about the effect. We knew:

• Where the strings were coming from
• What is the content that was turning
• What are the channels that were working

But not everyone chants.

Internal Challenge: Sales for Marketing

As traffic and driving grow, a new type of resistance appeared.

The sales team began to feel that marketing was “competing” with them.

Who owns the customer? Who gets the credit for the introduction?

This was the second main challenge: converting culture, not just tools.

It has started to market as a engine that works on sales, not a separate machine. I made it clear how our digital actions supported their pipeline, and they were not replaced.

Over time, confidence has grown.

One tree, two branches

Today, things have changed.

Marketing and sales are no longer two teams – they are two branches of the same tree.

The current league, Director of global marketing and sales technologyThis development reflects. I am not just running campaigns – I design connected ecosystems that allow data to flow from clicking to conversion.

Marketing is not just digital ads. It is the engine that drives the eligible threads in the sales pipeline. And sales are not just closer. They are the partner who turns digital signals into real relationships.

Advice for future leaders

For anyone working in traditional B2B or industrial sectors – whether in Germany, Bangladesh, or outside – there is my one advice:

“Stop dealing with sales and marketing like competitors. If CRM and your campaign are not the best friends, your business will suffer.”

If you want the results, align your tools, agree on your main performance indicators, and most importantly, align your people.

Final thought

In 2025, no company can carry the eighties.

You need to automate, you need to see, and you need to align.

Otherwise, you are not only behind – you are not visible.

Author CV:

Asif Ikbal Bhuiya is a pioneer in the field of global marketing and sales technology in a German industrial company, driving digital transformation via Martec, Slestech and incoming growth. He shares his journey in Asifikbal.com.